Stack ejecting mechanism



Oct. 24, 1961i.

Filed Dec. 12, 1957 INVENTOR ATTORNEY Oct. 24, 1961 J. LOPEZ STACK EJECTING MECHANISM Filed Dec. l2, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Jhw LOPEZ,

ATTORNEYS Patented Get. 24., 1961 ice 3,095,560 STACK EJECTENG RECHANESM John Lopez, Westeld, NJ., assigner to Universal Corrugated Box Machinery Corporation, a corporation of New York Filed Dec. 12, 1957, Ser. No.y 702,310 8 Claims. (Cl. 214-6) their free edges secured together, such as by taping, they are successively fed by a suitable conveyer associated with the taper onto a table to form a stack and after a predetermined number of blanks have been assembled in such stack, it is removed to be tied up for shipment.

Where the box blanks fed by the conveyor are automatically counted and when a predetermined number have been assembled in such stack, a reciprocable pusher member is actuated to move against the end of the stack to eject the latter, and thereupon is withdrawn so that a new stack of box blanks may be assembled, since the box blanks -are continuously fed by the conveyer, itis necessary that the pusher member complete a full cycle rapidly so that it will eject the stack from the table after the last box blank has been fed thereon and withdrawn so that it will be clear of the next box blank ejected to form the new stack.

Where the reciprocating pusher member is moved rapidly through a cycle in order that it be clear of the succeeding box blank and strikes the stack to be ejected from the table with considerable impact, it may deform the edges of the box blanks in the stack and also by reason of the speed at which the stack is struck the individual box blanks therein may be dislodged or disarranged so that subsequent handling thereof is difficult requiring realignment of the stack for tying purposes with resultant additional time required.

Where the stack is formed from relatively large box blanks, considerable force must be applied to eject the stack from the table and consequently the mechanism for effecting reciproc-ation of the pusher member must be extremely heavy and bulky. In addition, by reason of the speed required to complete a cycle, the reciprocating mechanism is subject to frequent breakdowns with attendant stoppage of continuous production.

` It is accordingly among the objects of the invention to provide a stack ejector that is relatively simple in construction having but few parts, which is devoid of all reciprocating motions using only rotary motion to effect the ejection of a stack of llat articles and is not likely to become deranged even with relatively high speed operation, and which when actuated to eject a stack will complete its function and move clear of subsequent articles discharged to form the next stack, in much less of a complete cycle than is required for Va conventional ejector of the reciprocating type and which will provide the required ejecting force with much -less impact against the edge of the stack to be ejected than will be furnished by reciprocating ejectors of conventional type.

According to a broad aspect of the invention, the equipment comprises a supporting surface on which the stack of folded box blanks is assembled. Rising from the rear of the supporting surface is an elongated rotatable ejecting member which, in cross section, has an elongated curved surface adapted to abut against the edge of the stack upon rotation of said member to eject the stack from the supporting surface.

In the accompanying drawings in which are shown one or more of various possible embodiments of the several features of the invention, f

FiG. l is a side elevational view of the equipment,

FIG. 2 is a view taken along line 2-2 of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic top plan View of the equipment showing various positions of the ejector member and also showing the conveyer feed to the ejector unit, and

FIG. 4 is a view taken along line 4-4 of FIG. 3.

Referring now to the drawings, as shown in FIG. l, the equipment comprises a housing 10 which may consist of rigid upstanding panels 11, 11a and 12, 12a defining the end and side walls of the housing. Secured as by welding to the end panels 11 near their lower edges 13 and upper edges 14 respectively are pairs or angle bars 15 and 16,

each pair supporting a pair of spaced angle bars 17 andl 18, the legs 19 of angle bars 18 extending upwardly as shown, in parallel relation.

Secured to the bars 17 and 18 are cross beams 21 and 22 each of which mounts a bearing 23, 24 respectively, a shaft 25 rising vertically from bearing 23 and extending through bearing 24 and an opening in a plate 2U, which denes the top wall of the housing 11 and is secured to the upper edges 14 ofpanels 1.1 land 12 as at 28.

Secured to the portion of shaft Z5 extending above plate 27 is an ejector member 31, which, as shown in FIGS. l and 3, is an elongated unit, that in cross section has a substantially straight surface 32 and a curved surface 33 which is substantially one-half of an ellipse.

Although the shaft 25 and the ejector member 31 secured thereto may be rotated in any suitable manner, in the illustrative embodiment herein shown, a conventional gear head motor 35 is provided mounted on angle bars 17' and having a sprocket wheel 36 mounted on its drive shaft 37, which through sprocket chain 3'8 drives a sprocket wheel 39 mounted on shaft 25.

The motor 35 is desirably provided with a self-contained brake 41 that will release upon energization of the motor and lock as soon las the motor is de-energized to prevent further rotation thereof and hence 0f the shaft 25 driven thereby.

The plate 27 is provided with a pair of spaced rows of slots 44 positioned inwardly of the upstanding legs 19 of tangle bars 18 and a plurality of rollers 45 are provided, each idly mounted on a stud shaft 46 extending laterally inward from the associated leg 19` with the upper periphery of each roller extending through an associated slot 44 above the top surface of plate 27 as shown in FIG. l.

Means are provided to restrain rotation of the rollers 45. To this end an elongated substantially rectangular plate 51 is positioned beneath the angleL -bars 18 and is hinged lat one end as rat 52 to the vertical leg S3 of an angle bar 54 mounted on angle bar 16 adjacent end wall 11a.

The plate 51 on its top surface adjacent each of its lateral edges, mounts resilient strips 55 which are aligned with the two rows of rollers 45. The end 56 of plate 51 mounts `the horizontal leg 57 of `an angle bar 58, the vertical leg 59 of which mounts a cam roller 60 mounted The roller 6i) rides on the surface of a cam plate 63 mounted on said shaft 25 and an upstanding "curved projection or cam lug 64 is mounted on said plate 63 designed to abut yagainst said roller once with each rotation of the plate `63 to pivot the plate 51 upwardly s0 that the resilient strips 55' thereon will engage the rollers 45 to stop rotation there-of.

Means are provided to `de-eriergize the motor 35 when the shaft 25 and the ejector member 31 thereon has comon a stud shaft 61 extending laterally outward from leg acosado Y3 pleted a full cycle of rotation, i.e., 360 degrees in the illustrative embodiment shown.

To this end, the plate 63 has secured to its undersurface a cam lug 65 which has Vits leading edge 67 extendJ ing laterally beyond the periphrey of plate I63 and its trailing edge 68 aligned .with the periphery of said plate, said lug 66 being circumferentially spaced from the cam lug 64 as shown in )FIGA 2.

The -lug 66 is designed to be engaged by the roller 69 at the end of the actuating arm 71 of a limit switch 72 supported by cross beam 22 and the lug 66 is so positioned and of such length that when the shaft 25 and the ejector member 31 have been rotated to normal position, shown in full lines in FIG. 3, the limit switchV will be actuated to de-energize the motor 35 and lock the brake 41.

Means are provided to guide the articles, illustratively folded box blanks 73, ejected onto the equipment so that they will be formed into a vertical stack S aligned with the ejector member 31.

To this end, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, a pair of upstanding plates 75 and 76 are provided mounted in parallel relation so as to straddle the rows of rollers 45, one of said plates, i.e., plate 75 being higher than the other, the position ofsaid plates being laterally adjustable in any suitable manner so that runs of articles of different widths may be laccommodated therebetween.

In the illustrative embodiment shown, where the equipment is to receive folded box blanks 73 from a taping machine conveyer 77 as shown in FlGS. 3 and 4, the height of the plate 76 is such that its upper edge 78 is just below the outlet 79 of the conveyer 77. Thus when the box blanks 73 are ejected by the conveyor 77 they will pass over said upper edge 7S and strike the plate 75 to form a stack S on the plate 27.

In the operation of the equipment the plates 75, 76 are adjusted to accommodate the width o-f the box blanks to be stacked. As the bl-anks 73 are successively ejected by the conveyer 77 they will strike the plate 75 and fall onto the plate 27 to form a stack S, the lowermost box blank 73 resting on the rollers 45.

When a predetermined number of box blanks 73 has been discharged by the conveyer 77, ythe counter 81 controlled in conventional manner by a photoelectric cell or mechanical 1device 82 will energize the motor 35. As a result, its brake 41 will immediately be released and the shaft 25 and ejector member 31 will be rapidly rotated in aclockwise direction from the normal position shown in full lines in FIG. 3. This will cause the curved surface 33 of the ejector member 31 to strike the rear edges of `the stack S of box blanks adjacent their Vcentral portion to cause the stack S to ride along the rollers 45 guided by the plates 75, 76 onto a suitable conveyer (not shown).

When the shaft 25 has rotated through an angle of say 150 degrees, the ejector member 31 will have reached its extreme inward position shown in dot and dash lines in FlG. 3 and thereupon when the shaft has rotated 90 degress further, or a total of 240 degress, the ejector member 31 will have reached the position shown in broken lines where it is clear of the next box blank 73 to be discharged 'by the conveyer 77.

Referring to FIG. 2, as the shaft 25 is rotated, the cam lug 66 will strike roller `69 to pivot arm 71 o-f the limit switch 72 which will have no effect on the motor 35. With further rotation of the shaft 25 and after the ejector member 31 has reached its maximum inward position and the stack S of box blanks has been movedo the plate 27, the roller 60 4will ride up cam lug 64. As a result, the brake plate 51 lwill be pivoted upwardly so that the resilient strips 55 thereon will press against the rollers 45 which are now rotating due to the movement of the stack S of box blanks thereon.

By reason of the engagement of the strips 55 'with the rollers 45, the latter will be stopped from rotation, so

4 that when the next box blank 73 is discharged thereon, it will not be advanced by the Vrotating roller which would interfere with proper stacking and ejection.

With further rotation of shaft 25, the cam lug 64- will he moved away from roller 69 so that the brake plate 51 will pivot downwardly releasing the lrollers l45.

When the shaft 25 has rotated sufliciently so that the ejector member 31 is in the normal position shown in full lines in FIG. 3, the cam lug 66 will have been `displaced sufliciently so that the lactuator arm 71 of limit switch 72 may rotate back to its original position shown in FIG. 3 and the switch 72 will be actuated and through suitable control circuits will `de-energize the motor 35 and apply its rbrake 41 so that further rotation of shaft 25 will be stopped with the ejector member 31 at its normal position ready `for the next cycle.

With the equipment 'above described, stacks of flat articles may rapidly be ejected without interruption or slow down of the feed of additional 4articles to form a new stack and without injury to the articles in the stack by reason of violent impact against the rear edges thereof.

As many changes could be made in the above construction, and many apparently widely different embodiments of this invention could be made without departing from the scope of the claims, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. Equipment for ejecting a stack of flat articles comprising a supporting surface having a plurality of idly mounted rollers to carry such stack, an elongated rotable member rising from said supporting surface at the reax thereof, drive means operatively connected to said member to rotate the latter, means intermittently to rotate said member through a complete cycle, said member in cross section having an elongated surface adapted upon rotation of said member to abut against the rear edge of such stack on the supporting surface to eject the latter therefrom, and means to stop rotation of sai-d rollers prior to completion of a full cycle of rotation of said member and after the stack has been moved from said rollers.

2. Equipment for ejecting a stack of flat articles, comprising a supporting surface to carry Such stack, a pair of upstanding spaced parallel guide plates rising from said supporting surface to accommodate such stack, a plurality of idly mounted rollers mounted on said supporting surface between said plates, the stack resting on said supporting rollers and being movable thereon between said plates, an elongated rotatable member rising from said supporting surface at the rear thereof, drive means operatively connected to said member to rotate the latter, said member in cross section having an elongated surface adapted upon rotation of said member to abut against the rear edge of such stack on the rollers to eject the latter therefrom and means to stop rotation of said rollers prior to completion of a full cycle of rotation of said member and after the stack has been moved from said rollers.

3. The combination set forth in claim 2 in which one of said guide plates is higher than the other whereby when the articles are discharged over the lower plate against the lhigher plate, they will fall onto the supporting surface to form the stack in front of said rotatable member.

4. Equipment for ejecting a stack of dat articles, comprising a supporting surface to carry such stack, a shaft extending vertically through said supporting surface at the rear thereof, an elongated ejector member aflixed to the portion of the shaft rising from the supporting Surface and extending vertically with respect thereto, a motor operatively connected to said shaft to rotate the latter, a brake associated with the motor to restrain rotation of said shaft when said motor is de-energized, means to energize said motor and release said brake when the stack contains a predetermined number of articles, said member in cross section having an elongated curved surface adapted upon rotation of said member by said shaft toabut against the rear edge of such stack on the supporting surface to eject the stack therefrom, and means controlled by the rotation of said shaft operative when the stack has been ejected from the supporting surface and the rotatable member has turned to a predetermined psition to stop further rotation of said member.

5. The combination set forth in claim 4 in which said last named means comprises a switch operatively connected to said motor to de-energize the latter, said switch having a control member, a disc aflixed to said shaft and rotatable therewith, said disc having a projection extending laterally therefrom adapted to engage Said control member to actuate said switch.

6. The combination set forth in claim 4 in which said supporting surface has a row of apertures extending the length thereof, a plurality of rollers are idly mounted beneath said supporting surface with the upper periphery of each of said rollers extending through an associated aperture, said stack resting on said upper peripheries, an elongated brake member is positioned beneath said row of rollers and extends the length thereof, said brake member being pivotally mounted at the end thereof remote from the shaft, and means carried by said shaft and rotatable therewith to pivot said brake member upwardly to engage the rollers to restrain rotation thereof prior to completion of a ful cycle of rotation of said shaft and after the stack has been moved from said rollers.

7. The combination set forth in claim 6 in which the means carried by said lshaft comprises a disc aflixed thereto and rotatable therewith, said disc having an upstanding projection thereon, the free end of said brake member carries a roller normally riding on said disc and adapted to be engaged by said projection to pivot Said brake member upwardly.

8. The combination set forth in claim 6 in which the means carried by said shaft comprises a disc affixed thereto and rotatable therewith, said disc having an upstanding projection thereon, the free end of said brake member carries a roller normally riding on said disc and adapted to be engaged by said projection to pivot said brake member upwardly, said brake member having a resilient strip on the top surface thereof aligned with the row of rollers and movable thereagainst.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,900,150 Anderson Mar. 7, 1933A 2,010,486 Herrman Aug. 6, F1935 2,085,410 Bergman June 29, 1937 2,353,437 Bock July 1=1, 1944 2,506,550 Morrison May 2, 1950 2,672,079 Chandler Mar. 16, 1954 2,703,182 Broberg Mar. 1, 1955 

